


When the City Lights Dim

by michebellaxo



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Accidental Marriage, Drunk Sex, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 05:08:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11799042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/michebellaxo/pseuds/michebellaxo
Summary: Days 4 and 5 for EC week - fake relationship and accidental marriage. Total AU





	When the City Lights Dim

**Author's Note:**

> Excuse the cheese.

Regina Mills led her best friend, David Nolan, into the Las Vegas hotel to check-in, glad to see someone ready and waiting at the receptionist’s desk. She hadn’t told him about the place they were staying, and she wanted to get up to their room before he caught on to where they were. The receptionist proved efficient, and Regina took their room keys and tilted her head to signal David to follow. Leading him to the elevator, she pushed the button for their floor and watched as he dragged her huge suitcase in, his duffel bag slung over his shoulder. 

“Will you tell me already what’s with the mysteriousness? It’s just a bachelor weekend, it doesn’t need to be secretive.”

Regina smirked at him. “Well, my dear, one of the lovely benefits for having a woman as the best man for the ceremony of your impending doom is that everything will be planned and perfect.”

David sighed, shaking his head. Regina and Mary Margaret hadn’t gotten along a single day since he’d started dating his now soon-to-be wife. Still, he was thankful that his best friend had put aside her feelings to be part of his big day, and had clearly gone through a lot to plan a fun weekend for the last weekend before he was a married man. 

“The guys are all meeting us here sometime this evening. Like the men that they are, they didn’t book their flights when I told them to, so the earlier flight was full by time any of them tried. They land around six, I think.”

“Good, then we can have a solid dinner before you all try to get me as wasted as possible,” David joked, knowing that a night with all of his friends, Killian, Neal, August, Jefferson, and Eric, along with Regina, would very likely end in most of them passed out after way too many drinks and sleeping in until noon.

Chuckling, Regina led him off the elevator and onto another, a glass one that would bring them right into the Sky Villa she’d booked for the weekend. When it did so, David stepped inside, eyes wide in amazement. 

“Shit, Regina, how much did this cost you?”

“Not telling. Besides, it’ll hold all of us, while also keeping me away from all the guys at night. God knows I don’t need to sleep with any of them again.”

David rolled his eyes, standing her suitcase upright and pushing the handle down, then dropping his duffel bag to the floor. “Yeah, please don’t, I don’t want to have to right hook any of them.”

Regina hooked her arm through his and pulled him. “Come on, I’ll show you around.” She led him through the two-story villa, explaining that they’d each have their own bed, even if some of the guys had to double up on the rooms, and they’d essentially each have use of their own bathroom. She showed him the pool next, encased in glass and jutting out over the city. Her eyes danced in amusement at how dumbfounded he was to be staying in a place like this, and Regina knew immediately she’d made the right decision. Leading him into the room that would be hers, she dropped down onto the bed and pulled him with her. 

“Seriously, Regina, this is too much.”

“Nothing is too much for you.” She looked over at him, finding his gaze already set on her. “You only get married once, right? Well, ideally. And besides, it’s your last weekend of freedom probably ever, and who knows when you’re going to get all of your friends in one place again. Just enjoy it.” 

David nodded, covering her hand with his on the bed and squeezing. He knew she hated marriage, didn’t believe in it, either, but she’d really proven herself when it came to being his right hand for his wedding to Mary Margaret. Ever since Daniel had died when he and David were only eighteen and fresh at college, the latter had taken care to make sure Regina was never alone for long, and the rest was history. They’d become inseparable over the last fifteen years, and they’d seen each other through a lot of messes life threw at them. 

“So what should we do until dinnertime?” he asked, giving her a smile.

“I was thinking we could go gamble. Or we could swim.  _ Or _ there’s an exclusive part of the hotel that’s for couples only. We could pretend and go check it out.”

“Couples only?” he asked, arching an eyebrow.

Regina smirked mischievously. “It may or may not be for swingers.” She laughed when he groaned, but sat up and tugged on his hand. “Come on, let’s just go see. It’s not like you have to agree at the door that you’re going to have a romp with someone. I’ve always wanted to see what one was like, and since I don’t care to be coupled up with anyone, I’ve never gotten to. Please? Half an hour tops.”

David sighed, sitting up. “Can’t you go with Jefferson or Killian when they get here? They don’t have girlfriends, and maybe you  _ could _ find someone to trade partners with for however long  _ that _ takes.” His face scrunched slightly.

“I don’t want to fuck anyone, David, I just want to see what it’s like, and if you really don’t want to, we don’t have to. But I don’t want to go with anyone but you. I like the guys, but I don’t want to do that with them, I want to just check it out with someone I trust, and you know you’re the only person in the world I trust besides my father.”

“Okay, okay. What’s the dress requirement?”

Grinning, Regina pulled up the information on her phone. “There’s a poolside one, but then there’s also an indoor club, which is just dressy casual.”

“Okay, the pool, only because I’d rather be in an open space than somewhere enclosed if we’re going to do this.

“Perfect.”

 

After they had both changed into bathing suits, and Regina had donned a sheer cover-up, she led him down to the pool area exclusive for the swingers parties. There was a man at the door who checked their room keys and looked at them suspiciously. 

“You’re here for the bachelor party group?”

Regina nodded. “We are.”

“This is for couples only.”

She slipped her hand into David’s and nodded again. “We understand that. Not all couples do separate parties. We’re a couple.” After another hesitant glance, the man let them out the door, and one look around had Regina’s eyes wide under her sunglasses. 

David looked around, eyebrows raised at the amount of couples making out on the lounge beds along all sides of the pool. There were round bed-like surfaces in a shallow pool of water that led into the main pool, where people were doing just about everything with a partner except swimming. He wondered momentarily just how many people had sex in that pool, and how often they had to add more chemicals. 

“Oh my god,” Regina whispered, rolling her lips to hide her amused smile. “This is kind of really hot.” She tipped her head to the side, signaling him to look over. There were two couples on one lounge bed, one man with his fingers deep inside of one of the women, tucked away in her bathing suit bottom in an awful attempt to be discreet. The other two were watching them intently, while grinding against each other, the woman on top. 

Shaking his head, David tugged her to a table behind some of the beds, refusing to sit on a bed that was probably soiled with more bodily fluids than he’d made contact with in his entire life.

“Stop being judgey,” Regina chided lightly. “Seriously, this is hot.”

“It’s like soft core porn. If that’s what you want, you can rent a movie in the privacy of your room and go ahead and get off to it while you do.”

She rolled her eyes and leaned back in the seat she’d taken beside him. “You’re such a prude, almost as bad as that fiancée of yours. Oh, maybe you should text her and tell her what we’re doing.”

“Not on your life.” David shook his head. Mary Margaret would have a heart attack if she knew he’d agree to go to a swinger’s club, even if he wasn’t doing anything but sitting and watching Regina’s fascination with it. And she’d be annoyed at what she would call Regina’s poor influence on him. She’d always thought Regina was the worse behaved of the two of them, but it was really more that Regina was open to trying new things, where David had lived his whole life erring on the side of caution.

A couple came up to them after they spent fifteen minutes talking and observing, the woman sitting down on David’s free side, the male beside Regina, chatting her up immediately with a seeming hope to do things with her, his voice immediately making David cringe inwardly. The woman was less forward, but still more flirtatious than he wanted to entertain, but he gave simple answers to the questions she asked, following Regina’s lead with the backstory she was giving the other man. The whole thing skeeved him out, but Regina seemed amused, so he went along with playing the game. 

“So, are you two interested in going up to our room?” David heard the man ask her, and his eyes flickered with interest to watch how she would decline. 

“Oh, well thank you for the offer, but we’re actually meeting a couple here in a bit, we just thought we’d come down and see what was going on here, you know, set the mood for ourselves,” she answered smoothly, that charisma that was completely unique to her dripping from every word she spoke, and David could see the man was eating her words like candy. The couple moved on a few minutes later, and he looked over at her.

“You’re enjoying this too much.”

“Not true. If I was enjoying this too much, I’d be halfway to an orgasm by now, but as promised, we’re simply observing.”

“Mm.” He shook his head. “How is it that you so easily attract men to you? It’s like you’re ringing out a mating call everywhere you go.” 

Giving him a quick, undignified snort, Regina rolled her eyes. “In case you didn’t notice, that woman was practically drooling on you. Not that I can blame her, because you’ve always had that effect on women when your shirt is off.”

David rolled his eyes then, bringing his hand up to shove her shoulder playfully. 

Regina took pity on how uncomfortable he looked, though, so she decided she’d let him out of the half an hour agreement and nudged his arm. “Want to go swim in our personal pool?” she asked, scooting her seat back to stand.

“That sounds far more pleasant than this.” David stood then, too, pressing his palm gently on the small of her back and letting her lead the way back inside. He was glad she was enjoying herself, though, because she never took vacations on her own, and he would likely be going on far less with her than he used to. 

Regina turned to look back at him to ask what he wanted to do for dinner later, but his phone started ringing, and she could tell by how he answered that that it was that pesky Mary Margaret already. She rolled her eyes, biting back a sigh of annoyance. It hadn’t even been two hours since David had called her to tell her they were on their way to the hotel. It irritated her how tightly the other woman clung to him, and she doubted she’d get to see him often after they got married. Shrugging it off, because she didn’t want to let it ruin the weekend, Regina led him to their room in silence, trying to ignore David’s end of the conversation. 

 

They’d chosen just to eat at one of the hotel restaurants, heading down right at six, so if the rest of the group was hungry when they arrived, they could just put their stuff in the room and come back down to join them. Regina had started the meal by ordering them each a shot of tequila with the appetizer of Oysters Rockefeller they’d ordered. David had cringed at the menu prices, but she shook her head. 

“Stop worrying about money, David. Daddy knows someone and got us the room both nights for the price of one, and meals are included.” 

He looked over at her with raised eyebrows. “Why did he do that?”

“Because he likes you. I’m pretty certain he always thought we were going to get married, at least since Daniel…” She shrugged. “Whatever his reason, stop worrying about it, okay? It’s taken care of.”

“I so owe you.”

“In that case, you can call off the wedding,” Regina countered, only half joking.

Shaking his head, David gave her a grin. “But that would make this whole celebration pointless, so guess that option’s out.”

She chuckled, leaning back when the waiter came with their shots and lime wedges. Regina ordered a dirty gin martini, while David ordered a Jim and coke, and the waiter headed back off to get their other drinks and check on their appetizer. Once they were alone, Regina picked up her shot glass and lime, clinking her glass to his. “Here’s to life changing.”

David watched her a moment but nodded slowly. “Indeed.” After he’d downed his shot and bit the lime, he looked at her again. “I’m still amazed your parents are coming to the wedding. I didn’t figure your father could drag your mother there by her hair, let alone have her willingly agree to go.”

“Well I think she just wants to see you get married for herself, make certain you’re married off to someone who isn’t me.”

“Did you tell them I already tried that and you refused?”

Smirking again, Regina shrugged. “They don’t know we tried dating. Well, Mother doesn’t, I’m certain Daddy does, but he gets me, he knows I’ve never wanted a relationship after Daniel. Mother, however, seems to think that I’m burying deep, desperate feelings for you and wants to watch you get married so she knows I won’t be married off to a ‘man who treats filthy creatures with his time,’ nevermind that you’re the best veterinarian in town, even at such a young age.”

David laughed, leaning back in his seat. “Well she’s half right. You deserve someone amazing if you ever decide to settle down.”

“Doesn’t matter, never going to happen.” Regina looked over her menu, trying to decide what to get for dinner. “I’m thinking the Kobe Beef burger, what about you?” she asked, effectively changing the topic of discussion.

 

He’d ended up ordering the surf and turf, and while they’d made it through their appetizer and both had finished most of their meals, they’d switched to drinking once the rest of the guys arrived just after seven. Regina was drinking far more than she usually let herself, but she was with six men who all cared about her on some level, and she knew not a single one of them would let anything happen to her if she happened to get too drunk to make proper decisions for herself. They were all also ordering David drink after drink, telling him he had to live it up this weekend and enjoy the end of his freedom before he was to be married. 

The waiter came up after David declined another drink order the guys had tried, holding the bill. “Mrs. Mills, will your friends be added to you and your husband’s tab, or are they separate?”

Regina looked at him in confusion for a moment, then nodded dumbly. “They can be on ours, thank you.” He left the bill with her then, heading off to give her time to ready her payment.”

“Well, well,  _ Mrs. _ Mills, what is it you two have been up to without us?” Jefferson asked, leaning toward her in the seat on her left.

She leaned toward him, too, arching one eyebrow. “Only things you can’t even think to imagine,” Regina answered seductively, making David stand and move between them.

“All right, so what are we doing next?”

Refraining from laughing at his need to separate them, she looked up at David with a smirk. “I suppose you should ask the guys that, because the next activity was one entirely thought up by them.”

He groaned at looked around at the men at the table, then nodded at Eric. “Where are we off to?”

“A strip club. We got a VIP room for the bachelor party package,” Killian cut in. “Regina tried to tell us you wouldn’t enjoy it, but we insisted it was necessary.”

Mary Margaret was going to kill him if she ever found out what they were doing while they were here, so he decided he’d just have to omit a few things. David waited until Regina paid for the drinks, then held his hand out for her, taking it and pulling it through the bend of his arm as he followed the rest of the guys, who had already started heading up to their room to get ready for the strip club.

“I wish you’d managed to convince them not to drag me to a strip club,” he whispered.

“I know, but I did make them promise it would not be a full nudity one. I tried, trust me.”

“What are you going to be doing while we go?”

Regina tilted her head against his shoulder as she focused too much on walking in her heels, one hand dropping to tug the hem of her dress down where it had ridden up while they were seated. “Oh, my dear, I’m going with you.”

David jerked his head to look back down at her, both eyebrows raised and lips slightly parted. “You’re joking.”

“Nope. Someone has to keep you boys in line.” She stood up straight again, stepping into the elevator that Neal was holding open for them. “Besides, when have I ever complained about admiring the female body?” 

“Well, never, I know, but you’re seriously going to sit with these guys and watch them be total creeps?” He knew how most of the guys would act watching strippers. They wouldn’t do anything too inappropriate, but the gawking and tipping would most definitely happen. And likely even more drinking than they’d already managed. 

“Contrary to your belief, I  _ am _ a big girl and can take care of myself. Besides, I doubt a single one of them could be worse in a strip club than your soon-to-be father-in-law was in an office setting, so…” She shrugged one shoulder lazily, turning her gaze out to watch the view through the glass of the elevator. 

His lips pursed automatically in disapproval. He’d nearly broken up with Mary Margaret when he found out it was her slime of a father who’d been the reason Regina had up and quit her job a couple years previous, after bringing a complaint to human resources about the boss having a habit of feeling her up during meetings at the law firm she worked at. But he was a partner at the firm and she was just an associate, having only been practicing three years at the time, so nothing had been done and he’d become even more of a creep, so she’d left and gone somewhere else. 

When the elevator opened and they got off the lift, the guys all went to claim beds and get themselves cleaned up from the plane feeling they’d not yet taken care of, and Regina dropped down onto one of the large couches. “Don’t you have to call and check-in with your bride? It’s been almost,” she paused, looking at her phone for the time, “what, like an hour since you guys talked?”

He leaned down, pressing his index finger against her lips. “Shush and be nice, woman,” he teased. 

Regina chuckled, swatting at his hand. “I’m just saying, she’ll be less likely to call while we’re at the club if you call her before we go. And don’t tell her what we’re doing, because a) that would just be stupid, and b) I really don’t want to deal with more glares than I’ll already be doing standing next to you wearing a tux and looking entirely hotter than she will in her wedding dress.”

Shaking his head in amusement, David pulled out his phone. “You know, someday I’ll need you two to start getting along, because I want you to be the godmother of our children, and I don’t think at this point in your relationship she’d be willing to do that.”

“You want me to take care of your spawns if you die?” Regina raised her eyebrows in surprise. He knew she had a soft spot for children, and she had no doubt she’d adore any that came from him, especially if they were kind and sweet like he was. 

“You know you’re even feistier when you’ve been drinking,” he chided playfully.

“It’s why all your friends enjoy me.” She got up, kicking off her heels. “I’m going to change. We’re leaving soon, so make sure you’re ready. And please don’t wear flannel.”

 

When they got to the strip club, they were led to their private party room, ten chairs available surrounding a small stage that protruded into the center of the room with a pole in the front and a pole in the back. She’d only been to a strip club once in her life, which was for a bachelorette party of a coworker she used to have. Regina hadn’t enjoyed it then, and she doubted she would much now, but she figured they’d stay for a little while, then the rest of the guys could stay longer and she and David could take off and go to the casino at their hotel or hang out in their villa and rent a movie or something. They needed to save some energy for the next night of drinking and partying anyway.

They settled around the stage, David on her right, as he usually was, and Jefferson on her left. He was a couple years younger than them, but he’d been buddies with Eric and Neal, and he’d fit in well enough, so he somehow had become part of the group naturally. Regina had slept with him on a couple of occasions when she’d been lonely and had wanted someone in her bed. He was fun, but nothing had come of it, just like every other short-lived affair she’d taken part in. Her standards for men were high, her father, Daniel, and David having made her expectations higher than any other man she’d met could reach. 

Two women came into the room, definitely younger than them, but probably close to thirty. Regina was glad for that; she didn’t think she could handle seeing anyone too young doing this. That would make her feel like a creep. A song started playing and they started dancing, swirling around the poles, sauntering along the length of the stage, kneeling and shaking their asses at the men. All of them had come equipped with plenty of singles, and Regina watched in amusement as the guys, all but David, were eagerly laying singles on the edge of the stage.

It wasn’t as tasteless as she’d expected, and the dancers were definitely good at what they were doing, but her drinks were starting to wear off a little and she wanted something with a little more kick than the beer and wine the club offered. She and David lasted nearly an hour until they were both getting antsy to leave, and despite the guys begging them not to go, then offering to leave with them, both had insisted they stay and enjoy the time the party package had allotted (three hours of the private room, then free access to the main room).

They’d decided in the cab on their way back that they’d go to the casino for a little while, indulge in the drinks and the slot machines or blackjack tables, enjoy a little more time without the rowdier part of their group, since everything tomorrow would be with all of them. Regina was glad to have more time to hang out with him. 

They traded in some cash for tokens, then headed over to play blackjack. Regina wasn’t great at gambling, she tended to take chances when she shouldn’t, and they never worked in her favor. David, being a bit more modest and level headed, would usually leave a casino with more money than he’d gone in with. They sat down at an empty table, both stacking their chips and placing their bets. Regina was dealt a nine and a two, David a ten and a king.

Regina rolled her eyes. “Ass.”

“It’s not my fault!” He nudged her shoulder with his, and someone came by with drinks, so they each took one. Regina took a hit, since the dealer’s top card was only a nine. She got an eight and decided to stay, watching the dealer flip his card to reveal a seven. He stayed, so David won. 

“Your luck is unfair.”

“Maybe I can win big and pay for all the wedding stuff instead of keeping the loan.”

“Maybe.” Regina lifting one shoulder. “Guess we’ll see.”

They played a few more hands, and David continued winning. She laughed, leaning back and pulling out, but watching him as he continued. He played a couple more hands, doubling-down on one and winning a good chunk of money when he got a blackjack with an ace and a queen. He pulled out of playing then, too, taking his winnings and picking up his drink, walking beside her as they wandered the floor in search of something else to play. 

“Why don’t we go cash in and go to the bar? Might as well save your winnings to play more tomorrow.”

David nodded, and they went to exchange their tokens back for cash, heading down to one of the bars after that. Regina hooked her hand in the crook of his elbow, following his lead. They sat at the bar, ordering tequila shots and bourbon and cola. They scooted their barstools close so they could hear each other speak over the amount of people that were there. 

He told her of the animals he’d treated the day before, one he’d had to do surgery on and was still at his office under constant monitoring by a tech, and she told him about the case she was currently working on to bring down a serial sexual abuser, a case that churned her stomach every time she looked over the evidence. And as they talked, catching up from the last time they’d really sat down at talked without being preoccupied with a meal or worrying about how easily people could overhear, they drank. They drank a lot. David was getting texts from Mary Margaret, and Regina got one from Jefferson and one from Killian, both asking where they were. She’d text them back that they were drinking and would be back soon, to get their drinks from the mini bar in the room if they wanted, they’d be there soon. 

She hadn’t realized how late it was, so Regina intercepted his cash to pay their tab, then stood up to head out, but stepped down wrong, twisting her ankle when her heel landed awkwardly. Letting out a hiss, Regina sat right back down, and David did, too, reaching down to pull her heel off and bring her foot to his lap. She watched him examine it, nimble fingers tracing over her skin, sending pleasant shivers up her spine as his blue eyes traveled over her smooth skin, chasing the path his fingers were making. 

“It’s probably just twisted a bit. But I think we should keep your shoes off for the walk up to the room.” David rubbed the pad of his thumb against the outside of her ankle, then reached down to take her other shoe off, hooking his fingers in the back straps and wrapping his arm around her waist. “Come on, I’ll make sure you don’t put too much pressure on it.” 

Regina nodded slowly, leaning forward and slipping down off her stool once more, letting him take the bulk of her weight. She always forgot how strong he was unless he was doing something to actively remind her, and Regina licked her lips. She was drunk.  _ Really _ drunk, and her lack of inhibitions was making her notice how good he smelled, her head resting against his shoulder, giving her too close of access to his neck, the faint smell of his cologne overwhelming her senses and sending a rush of arousal through her body. 

He’d had too much, he knew that for certain, and that knowledge was verified when he managed to get them lost from the bar to the lobby. David wandered around the hotel, holding her close to him to help her walk, the feeling of her body tucked in so tightly to him making him think of the few nights they had spent together. They’d sworn it was never more than just sex, and her lack of desire for commitment made it easy to succumb to the thoughts that it was just to get off when neither of them had someone to crawl into bed with. But he’d always wondered what it would be like to wake up next to her every day, had always wanted to press her further into giving them a shot, but she’d shown no interest, so he hadn’t pushed. It wasn’t worth losing his best friend over. 

Then he’d met Mary Margaret, and she was nearly the complete opposite of Regina, and he’d thought that was exactly what he needed. She was good to him, and they fit together well enough, except for the fact that she and Regina hated each other. But the subtle vanilla and coconut scent of Regina’s hair was reminding him again of the hours they’d spent fucking, and fucking hard, and long, hours spent bringing each other pleasure over and over, even if there hadn’t been many repeats over time, whenever they had, they’d go for broke. 

Regina interrupted his thoughts by looking around, trying to pinpoint where they were. “Did you get us lost?”

David chuckled, half in embarrassment and half in amusement at the cute way she narrowed her eyes at him. She pulled away from his hold, only slightly limping as she moved down one hallway to look for a way back to where they’d come from, so she could find their room from there. She leaned against the wall, though, deciding she was never drinking this much again, but god it felt good soothing her nerves. 

He moved back to her side, resting his hand on her hip, her shoes still in his other. “So, think you can get us back to the room?”

Regina looked up at him, shaking her head and giggling. “I’m not sure.” She brought her hand up to his chest, rubbing it absently and keeping her eyes on him. “I really,  _ really _ need to get us to the room, though.” 

He watched her, bringing his hand up to where she had hers on his chest. “Need to get to bed?”

“Well, yes. But mostly because if I don’t get somewhere to be alone I’m going to do something very stupid.” Her eyes looked over his full lips, then those damn bright eyes. “Really stupid.”

David tilted his head, frowning at her. “What do you mean something really stupid?” Regina only gave him ten seconds of waiting for an answer before she pushed away from the wall and wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, pulling him down to her and kissing him hard. He stood still barely a second, then dropped her shoes and slipped his arms around her waist, tugging her body close to his as he kissed her fervently. 

He slid one hand down, gripping her ass and hiking her up against him, pinning her to the wall with his body. Their tongues met, a bit messy and too fast to be very precise, but god, he was already desperate to get to their room, or somewhere they could go unseen. 

Regina dragged her teeth over his bottom lip, watching as his eyes flicked over their surroundings. “Single person bathrooms, find one,” she breathed, pushing against his chest so she could have room to bend down and grab her shoes. David looked around while she did, spotting one at the end of the hall. Once she was standing back up, he gripped her lips and lifted her to him, her legs wrapping around his waist and hiking her dress up to the very top of her thighs. She didn’t care, there wasn’t anybody in the hallway currently. 

Wrapping her arms around his shoulders, Regina kissed and sucked along his neck while he carried her down the hallway, which she knew wasn’t very long, but in that moment it seemed like the longest hallway ever. They got there and David put her down to pull the door open, tugging her inside and flipping the lock. Her hands immediately went to his belt, tugging it open and pushing down the zipper on his black slacks. While she did that, he pushed her dress up and curled his fingers into the band of her underwear, pulling it down, then kneeling quickly to take them off her. 

He tucked them into his back pocket, knowing she’d be pissed if they were put on the floor of a hotel all guest access bathroom. David groaned at the sight of her, standing once more and lifting her, her tights hooking around his hips as her hand shoved at his pants to get them down just a little more. Reaching between them, he pulled himself out of his boxers, running the tip of his dick through her slick folds. “Fuck, Regina,” he breathed, angling himself against her.

“God, David, fuck me,” she growled breathily. 

All too eager, David pushed into her, waiting a moment to let them both enjoy the sensation. When he knew he couldn’t wait anymore, he started pumping into her, pounding his hips into hers, fucking her hard against the wall. She didn’t seem to care, her arms wrapped around her head, hands fisted in his hair and holding him close as she pressed her cheek to his hairline. 

He moved one hand from her hip to her ass, rubbing his palm over the flesh and then squeezing it. David pulled back and shifted her hips off the wall, tilting them just so, then pounding hard into her again, satisfied by the reedy moan Regina released. As few times as they’d been together and he knew he would always know her body and how she reacted to things, and just how to bring her to such pleasure that she could barely contain her sounds. And she could do just the same to him. 

His blunt nails dug into the bottom of her ass as he continued driving into her. Then, bringing one hand around to rub her clit with his thumb, David turned his head and kissed along the inside of her forearm, sinking his teeth in over the small bee she had tattooed just below the inside of her elbow, tongue tracing over her skin. She cried out at a particularly pleasing thrust, dropping her hand to take his, then bringing it up and sucking his thumb into her mouth. Once the taste of herself was off his skin, she pulled his hand back, pressing her cheek to his palm and moving her own hand to rub her clit. 

As he held her face and fucked her, David’s gaze stayed on hers and he knew that while part of him was cognizant of the fact that this was wrong, it was cheating, he also knew that the other part of him didn’t care, and that was the part that was winning. He was growing too close, doing his best to hold out for her, but he didn’t need to for long; only a moment later, he could feel her walls tightening on him, drawing him deeper into her, her nails scratching the base of his neck as the one on her clit stilled with her pleasure. 

Once David felt the pulsing of her body around him with the after effects of her orgasm, he thrust harder, shoving her hips back against the wall and pressing her body between the hard surface and his, pounding roughly until his body released. When he came, he dipped his head and pressed his nose into her hair. “Fuck, Regina.”

She sucked in a long, slow breath, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck and sighing. “Mm, maybe we should just get married, then you could have that every day,” she joked, though if she was honest, she’d thought about it more than once in the time since he’d told her he’d proposed to Mary Margaret.

David chuckled against her ear, letting her down onto the ground and pulling her underwear from his pocket. He held them out for her, watching as she took them and struggled with her balance to put them on. “Too bad you wouldn’t marry me five years ago,” he countered, winking at her as he fixed his own clothes. “We could’ve done that every day for the last five years.” 

Regina chuckled. “So let’s get married now and make that start happening.”

He looked at her, finishing with his belt and bringing his hands up to brush her hair back. “You’re drunk. Hell, I’m drunk. You don’t want to marry me, and you’d regret it in the morning.”

“You’re an idiot if you believe that,” Regina murmured. “Marry me.”

“Marry you?” 

Regina nodded, hooking her hands over his wrists. “Yes, marry me.” Even as she said it, she could practically feel the alcohol affecting her judgment, but she didn’t take the words back.

“You’re insane.” David shook his head. 

“Yeah, maybe.”

 

Regina woke early in the morning, her head swimming and the light hurting it moreso, even before she opened her eyes. Her whole body ached, including her ankle, one finger, and her abdomen. She had no idea why. And there was someone in bed with her, another thing she didn’t remember. She wondered if she’d blacked out the night before. She shifted, groaning when she finally opened her eyes and saw a hand hanging loosely against her arm. There was a black ring on the man’s finger, and she scowled. How could she have gotten so wasted she’d sleep with a married man? Why did David let her? What had he and the rest of the guys been doing when she’d found someone to bring back to the room?

She needed coffee, and to talk to David, try to piece together memories from the night before. Coffee first, though. That was the most important thing at the moment. Bringing her hands up, she rubbed sleep from her eyes and shifted onto her back to try to scoot away with more ease. Squeezing her eyes shut, Regina turned her head toward her bedmate, slowly opening one, and when she saw who it was, she jerked to sit up and gasped. 

“Oh my god. Oh my god, David, wake up.” She shoved him, biting her bottom lip, then wondered why he was wearing his ring already. Regina grabbed his hand, running her fingertips over the ring on his finger only to find it wasn’t an actual ring, but a tattoo. 

Oh. Shit. Regina winced at the realization that her finger had hurt upon waking, and she pulled her hand from under his to look at it. There was a set of two fine, black lines around the base of the finger, an intricate design filling the space between them. Letting out a soft groan, she pinched the back of David’s arm, finally getting a reaction from him as he jerked awake. 

“What the hell?” he grumbled, rubbing his eyes and sitting up slowly. When he looked at her, his blue eyes went wide as he took in her state of undress, then his own, then the fact that they were in bed together. 

“David, do you remember last night?” she asked, chewing her bottom lip. She hardly remembered any of it, but she faintly remembered leaving the bar, then just about nothing after that. 

“What did we do?” He looked around for his clothes, finding his jeans beside the bed. David reached to pull his phone from the pocket, finding fifteen missed calls and twenty-two text messages from Mary Margaret. There were several notifications from Instagram and Facebook as well, and he cringed as he wondered why. 

“David… I think we uh, got married.” Before she could say anything more, and before he could respond, there was a knock at the door, followed by it being opened quickly. Regina tightened the sheets around her body as all the guys loaded into her room.

“Um, sorry, we just wanted to make sure you guys were okay,” Eric told them. 

Killian looked between the two of them and smirked. “I thought Regina brought home a random guy last night by the sounds of it, wasn’t until I got on Facebook this morning that I knew it wasn’t just some random lad.”

Regina covered her face in her hand and groaned, closing her eyes. “Can you guys please leave. We’ll be out in a minute.”

David nodded, showing his agreement with Regina, and the guys piled back out, undoubtedly going elsewhere to gossip about them. She looked over at him and jerked her head toward the hand that was holding his phone, 

“How bad is it?” 

Sighing, he pulled up Facebook and went to his page. There wasn’t anything there, but he kept his tags private from his page, so he went to Regina’s page. Sure enough, there was a picture of them cheek to cheek, both smiling ridiculously wide with heavily lidded eyes. The post read, “Just married my best friend! lol.” He turned his phone to show her. 

“Why would I even post that on Facebook?”

“Clearly we both had judgment issues last night.” David dropped his phone back down on top of his pants, then fell back to lay on the bed once more.

“Yeah, thanks for that,” Regina answered sharply, getting out of bed and standing up so she could get dressed. She winced, lifting her foot from the floor and sitting back down. Bringing her leg up, she examined her ankle. There wasn’t any swelling, but it hurt like a bitch to step on, and she wondered if it was just a really bad twist, and continuing to walk on it irritated it more, or if there was something more serious. 

David shot up again, sitting and scooting over on the bed to look at her ankle. He held it gingerly between his two hands, moving her ankle in all directions. “Does it feel okay when I do this?”

Regina didn’t look at him, but gave a weak shrug. “It hurts a little.” She looked down at her hand, then at his, her gaze settling there a little longer. “Don’t worry, my wedding gift to you will be to pay for your tattoo removal.”

He furrowed his brow questioningly, then noticed the tattooed ring on his finger. “We really went all out, didn’t we? Do you think we can get it annulled?”

She snorted, rolling her eyes. “No, no I do not think we can just get it annulled.” David frowned, looking utterly confused, so Regina motioned between them, giving him a pointed look.

“Oh.  _ Oh _ . Right. Yeah, I guess it looks like we… uh, consummated it.”

“Yeah, and by the way my entire body feels, I’d say we probably consummated it a few times.”

David sighed, leaning back against the pillows. “Damn.”

Regina, feeling incredibly vulnerable as bits and pieces of memories came back as her brain slowly came back to proper consciousness, looked down at her ring finger again, stroking her thumb over the ink and whispering, “Is it really such an awful thought for you? Being married to me?”

He pursed his lips, scooting closer to her again and tugging her into his arms, holding her against his chest. “You know better than that. How many times have I joked over the years that we were practically a married couple and I didn’t know why we didn’t just make it official? There are reasons that up until the time I started seeing Mary Margaret, I took you as my date for every wedding, family reunion, party, holiday… Regina, you ought to know better by now that marrying you would never have been a bad thing to me.”

“But?”

“But I’m supposed to be marrying someone else next weekend.”

“So call it off.”

“Why? You don’t want this, you know that. You know that in a few days you’ll regret it and then I’ll have ruined my relationship just to be left alone and what’ll happen to our friendship then? Regina, I don’t want to lose my best friend because we got wasted and married in Vegas.”

She shook her head, pulling away and looking at him. “You’re a complete and utter idiot, and I don’t know how you fucking manage to breathe.”

David knew cruelty was her defense mechanism, so he took her hand and squeezed it. “Please, Regina, just give me five minutes of straight honesty. No snark, no sarcasm, no digs. Let’s figure this out, yeah?”

Nodding reluctantly, and hating the way her stomach churned at the thought of being vulnerable, Regina huffed out a heavy breath. She knew that she didn’t need to feel anything wrong with exposing herself to David. He was her closest friend, the closest thing she’d had to a companion since Daniel died, and the only person who had seen her at her worst and hadn’t left. So, she sucked in a breath and, before she could stop herself, asked, “Why do you think I hate Mary Margaret so much?”

“I figured because of her father.” David shrugged, looking at her intently.

“See, that’s where you’ve been wrong all this time. I hate her because I didn’t like her coming in and taking you away from me. We’ve spent less time together, we’ve gone on less trips together… she was taking away my best friend.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

“And because she was… whatever, not all damaged and she was willing to date and not be a goddamn freak of a human. She has what I want.”

“You mean me?”

Regina kept her gaze focused on the symbol of their drunken mistake that was permanently etched into her skin and nodded. 

“I don’t get it, all those times I tried…”

“I was afraid. Apparently it took getting wasted and being afraid of losing you forever to that annoying little bitch for me to actually do something about it.”

David stared at her for a long moment, knowing what he had to do, what he wanted to do. “Well you can thank yourself for wasting both our time.”

Regina looked at him in surprise, scared by what his words might mean. “What?”

“Because this could’ve started ages ago. You’ve made us waste, what, fifteen years, minus a few while you were dealing with the loss of Daniel. You silly woman, you,” he murmured, kissing her forehead.

“Don’t toy with me, David.”

“I’m not. I don’t get how you didn’t understand how I felt all this time. Everyone else knows. Why do you think your parents both have thought we’d always get married?”

She stared at him in dumbfounded amazement and slowly her expression changed to one of complete realization as she thought about all the things over the years, the way he’d shown his care and affection for her and she’d completely misplaced it and thought he was just doing it because he and Daniel were as close as brothers and that maybe that had made him feel responsible for her.

David knew by the change in her expression that she finally understood, and he wrapped his arms around her once more. Pressing a kiss to her hair, he rested his cheek against the top of her head and smiled. “It’s about damn time, Mrs. Nolan,” he murmured, grinning against her hair.

“That’s Mrs.  _ Mills _ -Nolan to you.”


End file.
